Western Civilization

representative in India of the East India Company,

which had been founded as a joint stock company in

1600. Eventually, the French were restricted to the fort
      at Pondicherry (pon-di-CHER-ee) and a handful of
      small territories on the southeastern coast.
      In the meantime, Clive began to consolidate British
      control in Bengal, where the local ruler had attacked
      Fort William and imprisoned the local British popula-
      tion in the “Black Hole of Calcutta” (an underground
      prison for holding the prisoners, many of whom died
      in captivity). In 1757, a small British force numbering
      about three thousand men defeated a Mughal-led army
      more than ten times its size in the Battle of Plassey
      (PLAH-see). As part of the spoils of victory, the British
      East India Company received from the now-decrepit
      Mughal court the authority to collect taxes from lands
      in the area surrounding Calcutta. During the Seven
      Years’ War (1756–1763), the British forced the French
      to withdraw completely from India (see Chapter 18).

China

In 1514, a Portuguese fleet dropped anchor off the

coast of China. At the time, the Chinese thought little

of the event. China appeared to be at the height of its

power as the most magnificent civilization on earth. Its

empire stretched from the steppes of Central Asia to

the China Sea, from the Gobi Desert to the tropical

rain forests of Southeast Asia. From the lofty perspec-

tive of the imperial throne in Beijing, the Europeans

could only be seen as an unusual form of barbarian. To

the Chinese ruler, the rulers of all other countries were

simply “younger brothers” of the Chinese emperor,

who was regarded as the Son of Heaven.

By the time the Portuguese fleet arrived off the

coast of China, the Ming dynasty, which ruled from

1369 to 1644, had already begun a new era of great-

ness in Chinese history. Under a series of strong rulers,

China extended its rule into Mongolia and Central Asia.

The Ming even briefly reconquered Vietnam. Along the

northern frontier, they strengthened the Great Wall

and made peace with the nomadic tribesmen who had

troubled China for centuries.

But the days of the Ming dynasty were numbered.

After a period of prosperity and growth, the Ming

gradually began to decline. During the late sixteenth

century, a series of weak rulers led to a period of gov-

ernment corruption, and these internal problems went

hand in hand with unrest along the northern frontier.

The Ming had tried to come to terms with the frontier

tribes by making alliances with them. One of the alli-

ances was with the Manchus, who lived northeast of

the Great Wall in the area known today as Manchuria.

In 1644, the Manchus overthrew the last Ming em-

peror and declared the creation of a new dynasty with

the reign title of the Qing (Ch’ing, “Pure”). The Qing

(CHING) were blessed with a series of strong early rul-

ers who pacified the country, corrected the most seri-

ous social and economic ills, and restored peace and

prosperity. Two Qing monarchs, Kangxi (GANG-zhee)

and Qianlong (CHAN-lung), ruled China for well over a

century, from the middle of the seventeenth century to

the end of the eighteenth, and were responsible for

much of the greatness of Qing China.

WESTERN INROADS Although China was at the height of

its power and glory in the mid-eighteenth century, the

first signs of internal decay in the Qing dynasty were

of fidelity and justice are truly worthy to be applauded.

As regards your wish that we should cooperate in prop-

agating your religion, we do not dare to permit it, for

there is an ancient custom, introduced by edicts, which

formally forbids it. Now, edicts are promulgated only

to be carried out faithfully; without fidelity nothing is

stable. How could we disdain a well-established custom

to satisfy a private friendship?...

We beg you to understand well that this is our com-

munication concerning our mutual acquaintance. This

then is my letter. We send you herewith a modest gift,

which we offer you with a glad heart.

This letter was written at the beginning of winter

and on a beautiful day.

Q What are the underlying beliefs and approaches of

these two rulers? How are they alike? How are they

different? What is the significance of the way the

two rulers date their letters?

Source: FromThe World of Southeast Asia: Selected Historical Readings, Harry J. Benda and John A. Larkin, eds. Copyrightª1967 by Harper & Row Publishers. Used with permission of John A.

Larkin.

(Opposing Viewpoints continued)

344 Chapter 14 Europe and the World: New Encounters, 1500–1800

Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.

`ˆÌi`Ê܈̅Ê̅iÊ`i“œÊÛiÀȜ˜ÊœvÊ

˜vˆÝÊ*ÀœÊ*Ê

`ˆÌœÀÊ

/œÊÀi“œÛiÊ̅ˆÃʘœÌˆVi]ÊۈÈÌ\Ê